How live videos and stories in social media influence tourist opinions and behaviour

Since the development of mobile technology, the growth of live videos has been a social and economic phenomenon in recent years (Hu et al., in Comput Hum Behav 75:594–606, 2017 ). Seeking to analyse their potential in the field of tourism, this paper aims firstly to find out the reactions of users towards different live videos, and secondly to find out how users’ live videos and stories influence their opinions and behaviours. The results show what kind of effects live videos and stories can have in communicating authenticity/proximity, to generate tourist experiences, to make a destination more attractive, and to create an enticing destination image. This has some implications for academics, because it is an advance in the knowledge on this type of videos, their characteristics and applications; and has also implications for tourism businesses and Destination Management Organizations, which must take into account this type of videos and stories in order to improve their attraction and image.